The main aim of this study was to examine residents’ environmental behavior in sorting solid household waste, and to identify the integrative factors that contribute to their waste-separation cooperation and other related pro-environmental behaviors. This was achieved based on a questionnaire survey in Shenyang, Chengdu, and Shanghai. Methodologically, we applied a discrete choice model to examine whether individuals’ garbage sorting behaviors differ based on their characteristics, social attributes, residential circumstances, and environmental awareness, and whether these factors are correlated with individuals’ receptiveness to a refuse charge system, or to policies requiring garbage sorting. We further examined whether individuals’ garbage sorting behavior, their receptiveness to fee-based waste collection, and their receptiveness to policies requiring garbage sorting differ across areas. In this particular survey, we introduced a 16 item scale of pro-environmental behavior and a nine item scale of altruism to ascertain the ways in which internal motivational factors affect people’s environmentally conscious voluntary behavior. Overall, the present work is expected to contribute to an important understanding of the motivational forces and incentives behind human pro-environmental behavior and action. It also brings relevance to the analysis of moral solidarity in relation to the household waste disposal problems currently confronting us today.

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A series of magnesium and zinc complexes, [(L1-3)2M2(μ-OBn)2] (M = Mg (1-3), Zn (4-6)), have been synthesized by the reaction of NNO-tridentate ketiminate ligands (L1-3-H) and a stoichiometric amount of MgnBu2 (or ZnEt2) and BnOH. In addition, the reaction of these ketiminate ligands (L1-4-H) with a half equivalent of MgnBu2 (or ZnEt2) in toluene provides [M(L1-4)2] (M = Mg (7-10), Zn (11-14)) in good yields. All of these complexes have been fully characterized by NMR spectroscopy and elemental analysis, and the molecular structures of [(L1)2Mg2(μ-OBn)2] (1), [(L3)2Mg2(μ-OBn)2] (3), [(L1)2Zn2(μ-OBn)2] (4), [Mg(L1)2] (7), [Zn(L1)2] (11) and [Zn(L4)2] (14) have been further confirmed by X-ray crystallographic studies. X-ray diffraction studies revealed that complexes 1, 3 and 4 were dimeric in the solid state, bridging through the benzyloxy groups, while the solid-state structures of 7, 11 and 14 revealed a mononuclear species, six-coordinated by N, N, and O atoms of two ketiminate ligands, forming a distorted octahedron around the metal centre. Complexes 1-6 acted as efficient initiators for the ring-opening polymerization of lactides, producing PLAs with controlled molecular weights and narrow molecular weight distributions. Complex 6 [(L3)2Zn2(μ-OBn)2] exhibited the highest activity towards the ROP of lactides. And complexes 1-6 initiated rac-lactide polymerization to afford heterotactic enriched polymers (Pr up to 0.82). In addition, complexes 7-14 were also shown to efficiently catalyze the ring-opening polymerization of lactides in the presence of BnOH.